Some Comments on the Animal Signs in the Military Texts of Ramesses III

Minia Journal of Tourism and Hospitality Research Volume 1, No. 1, June, 2016

Some Comments on the Animal Signs in the Military Texts of Ramesses III at the Temple of Madinet Habu Hesham Ezz Eldin Zaki Faculty of Tourism and Hotels- University of Sadat City [email protected]

Abstract The temple walls of Madient Habu in Thebes are considered outstanding for recording the wars of king Ramesses III. The accounts are full of metaphoric descriptions for the legendary power of the king. This paper deals with the words with animal signs to indicate the symbolic ideas the scribe wanted to present through the rhetoric texts. These animal signs, for instance, are the baboon in the word ond “rage”, ibis in gm-drt literally means “hand that finds”, the falcon in word bik, the Seth animal in nSny “rage”, the hindered snake in words sbi “enemy” and pA Dw ody “the evil of characters”.

Key words: Madinet Habu, Wars, Animals , Symbolic Ideas Introduction The temple of Madinet Habu in Thebes is considered remarkable for displaying the war scenes and accounts of king Ramesses III against the Libyans, the Nubians and the Sea People 1. The accompanied texts

1 For the inscriptions and the reliefs see Epigraphic Survey, Medinet Habu, Volume I. Earlier Historical Records of Ramses III, (OIP 8, Chicago, 1930) and Epigraphic Survey, Medinet Habu, Volume II. The Later Historical Records of Ramses III, (OIP 9, Chicago,1932). For the inscriptions, see K.A. Kitchen, Ramesside Inscriptions. Historical and Biographical, V (Oxford, 1983), 8-54. For the translation of the war texts see W. F. Edgerton and J. A. Wilson, Historical Records of Ramses III: The Texts in Medinet Habu, Vol I and II, (SAOC 12, Chicago: University of Chicago Press,1936). There is also the analysis in A.J. Spalinger, Aspects of the Military Documents of the Ancient Egyptians, (New Haven and London, Yale University Press, 1982), 213-220, B. Cifola, “Ramses III and the Sea People: A Structural Analysis of the Medinet Habu Inscriptions”, in Orientalia 57 (1988), 275-306 and B. Cifola, “The Terminology of - 61 -

Hesham Ezz Eldin Zaki

rhetorically glorified the victories of the king that hindered the enemies who could not stand to confront him. This included the metaphoric descriptions of the king with powerful animals as lion, bull, falcon, panther and crocodile to express his legendary abilities in defeating his enemies who were regarded as wild animals, cattle, birds, fish, mice and locusts 2. The Lion and the Baboon. Many texts portrayed the king as a lion with great terrorizing roar and courageous heart while executing his mighty attacks that cannot be resisted by enemies 3. This included describing the king as a “ raging lion ” to express his dissatisfaction from the evil action performed by the enemies through violating the Egyptian borders. Beside the animal sign of the lion either standing 4 or seating 5 there is the determinative of the baboon 6 in the word ond “ raging ” as shown in the following examples of texts : I. The king is marching to confront the Libyans.

(12) 7 mAi ond mAA.n.f pH.s 8 bw HAi.n Ssr.f m HH

Ramses III’s Historical Records with a Formal Analysis of the War Scenes”, in Orientalia 60 (1991), 9- 57. 2 The metaphoric identifications of the king and his enemies with the animals were mentioned in E. Teeter, “Animals in Egyptian Literature”, in B.J. Collins (ed.), A History of the Animal World in the Near East, (Leiden, Boston, and Cologne, Brill 2002), 266- 269. 3 Edgerton, Historical Records, 9, pl. 17 lines 10-11; 12, pl. 19 lines 5-12; 14, pl. 22 lines 20-23 and 31-32; 15, pl. 23 lines 1, 16 pl. 23 lines 41-43; 22, pl. 27-28, lines 31-33; 37, pl. 31 lines 2-5; 41-42, pl. 37 lines 18-19 and 62, pl. 70 lines 9-10; 63, pl. 73 line 1 and 112, pl. 102 line 23. 4 J.P. Allen, Middle Egyptian. An Introduction to the Language Culture of Hieroglyphs, (Cambridge University Press, New York, 2010), 431 sign E22 and Y. Bonnamy and A. Sadek, Dictionnaire des Hiéroglyphes. Hiéroglyphes/Français, (Actes Sud, 2010), 826, sign E22. 5 Allen, Middle Egyptian, 431 sign E23 and Bonnamy, Dictionnaire, 826, sign E23. 6 Allen, Middle Egyptian, 431 sign E32 and Bonnamy, Dictionnaire, 826, sign E32. 7 Epigraphic Survey, Habu I, pl. 17, lines 11-12 and Kitchen, Ramesside V, 13, 6-7. 8 Probably the scribe used the suffix pronoun s third person feminine singular instead of the suffix pronoun third person masculine singular f . See Kitchen, Ramesside V, 13.7. - 62 -

Minia Journal of Tourism and Hospitality Research Volume 1, No. 1, June, 2016

“a lion raging when he saw his assailant. His arrow did not miss a mark in a million” 9. II. The king is celebrating his victory over the Libyans.

10 rw ond swsx xpSy sxmty m thw tS.f “The raging lion who stretches out the two mighty arms over the transgressor of his boundary” 11. III. The king is standing on the shore and directing his arrow towards the fleet of the Sea People.

12 sdw Ssr.f mr.n.f im.sn mHw xpr m xr Hr mw Hm.f mitt rw sond Hr nxnx pH sw m awy.f “ he wished penetrating his arrow among them. The fugitive has become as fallen in water. His majesty is like an enraging lion at the time of massacring the (one who) assails him with his hands ” 13.

I. II. III. Epigraphic Survey, Habu I, Epigraphic Survey, Epigraphic Survey, Habu I pl. 17. Habu I OIP 8, pl. 22. OIP 8, pl. 37.

9 See the translation of Edgerton, Historical Records, 9, pl. 17 lines 11-12. 10 Epigraphic Survey, Habu I, pl. 22 lines 20-22 and Kitchen, Ramesside V, 15.9-10. 11 See also the translation in Edgerton, Historical Records, 14, pl. 22 lines 20-22. 12 Epigraphic Survey, Habu I, pl. 37, lines 17-19 and Kitchen, Ramesside V, 32.10-11. 13 See also the translation in Edgerton, Historical Records, 41, pl. 37 lines 17-19. - 63 -

Hesham Ezz Eldin Zaki

The repetition of the expression mAi ond “ raging lion ” might lead to an enquiry concerning the reason of using ond rather than other words with the same meaning of anger 14 like Ad with determinative of crocodile 15, Spt with the determinatives of the blow fish and the sparrow 16 and nSny with the Seth animal 17. The preservation of the scribe in using the word ond with the lion is clearly featured in the texts of god Amun-re-horakhty who marvelously caused the enemies to see Ramesses III “like a raging crocodile whose paws beat corpses” and “like an infuriated lion whose claw and tooth tear the breast of the wild cattle” 18. Looking to the hieroglyphic inscriptions the raging crocodile is written as dpw nSnw 19 while the infuriated lion is inscribed as usually as rw sond 20. It seems that the reason of displaying the baboon sign is due to its positive regard in ancient Egypt. Although it was known to be a furious animal but its cleverness was realized as illustrated in numerous scenes from various periods. For example a market scene from the Fifth Dynasty tomb of Tepemankh at Saqqara remarkably illustrated a baboon while catching the leg of a boy who was attempting to steal something from a basket 21, also the Fifth Dynasty tomb of the brothers Niankhkhnum and Khnumhotep at Saqqara depicted a baboon in the act of attacking a wrongdoer 22, a New Kingdom stela illustrated a baboon while climbing a tree to collect fruit for a woman 23 and an ostracon from Deir al-Madina dating to the

14 For the various words of anger in ancient Egypt see I. Köhler, “ Rage Like an Egyptian : The Conceptualization of Anger ”, Current Research in Egyptology 2010. Proceedings of the Eleventh Annual Symposium, (2011), 87. 15 Wb 1, 24.12-17. 16 Wb 4, 454.1-12. 17 Wb 2, 340.11-30. 18 Edgerton, Historical Records, 112, pl. 102 lines 22-23. 19 Epigraphic Survey, Medinet Habu, Volume II. The Later Historical Records of Ramses III, (OIP 9, Chicago,1932), pl. 102 line 22. 20 Epigraphic Survey, Habu II, pl. 102 line 23. 21 P.F. Houlihan, The Animal World of the Pharaohs, (London and New York, 1996), 105-106 and 105, fig. 72. 22 Houlihan, Animal World, 106. 23 J.V. D’ Abbadie, “Les singes familiers dans l’ancienne Egypte (Peintureset Bas- reliefs) III. Le Nouvel Empire”, in RdE 18, (1966), 197 and 198, fig. 57. - 64 -

Minia Journal of Tourism and Hospitality Research Volume 1, No. 1, June, 2016

Ramesside Period represented a baboon as a harp player 24. Moreover the baboon represented the sacred form of the wisdom god +Hwty “Thoth” 25 and its name ian was associated with god Thoth in later period 26. These might lead to realize the intention of the scribe to make the readers think that although the king was extremely anger but he did not lose his temper and was able to make his effective attacks. For the extreme rage might lead a person to take unwise decisions and perform negative actions 27. This was expressed in the above displayed sentences I and III by praising the delicacy of the king in shooting the arrows that never miss their targets. The ability of the king to control his raging power for possessing the virtue of thinking in his personality was expressed in the text of the fifth Libyan war in which the king in his anger condition was described as counselor with excellent of plans 28 and in another position he was said to be like the legendary griffon animal axx 29 and shrewd like Thoth +Hwty 30. The Ibis Expressing the combating talent of the king he was said to have a gm-Drt “hand that finds” 31. This witnessed the existence of the ibis bird 32 as seen in the following texts: I. The king is riding his chariot and shooting the Libyans with his arrow.

33 oni gm-Drt.f ii [Ssr] r st.f n whn.f

24 Houlihan, Animal World, 211, fig. 147. For other scenes see D’ Abbadie, “Nouvel Empire”, 185, fig. 45 and 186, fig. 46. 25 D. Kurth, “Thoth”, in LÄ 6 (Wiesbaden 1986), 498. 26 Wb 1, 41.5-6 and 41.7. 27 Köhler, “Rage Like an Egyptian”, 89. 28 Edgerton, Historical Records, 21, pl. 27-28 line 9. 29 Wb 1, 225.6. 30 Edgerton, Historical Records, 23, pl. 27-28 line 22. 31 In the Late Egyptian the gm-Drt was translated as “capable”, see L.H. Lesko, A Dictionary of Late Egyptian, vol IV, (Providence: B.C. Scribe,1989), 58. 32 Allen, Middle Egyptian, 434, sign G28 and Bonnamy, Dictionnaire des Hiéroglyphes, 836, sign G28. 33 Epigraphic Survey, Habu I, pl. 19 line 13 and Kitchen, Ramesside V, 16.15. - 65 -

Hesham Ezz Eldin Zaki

“ brave, his hand that finds, (when) sending [the arrow] to its place without its fail ” 34. II. The king marches to confront the Sea People.

35 nb wa gm-Drt.f rx pHtw.s mi rw oni oAp Hr r [awt iAwt] “the sole lord, his hand that finds, (who) knows his strength like a brave lion, hidden and prepared for wild cattle ” 36.

I. II. Epigraphic Survey, Habu I, pl. 19. Epigraphic Survey, Habu I, pl. 31. The previous two sentences refer to the indirect rhetoric method used by the scribe to associate the king with the wisdom god Thoth for the ibis represented his sacred bird 37. According to this the king possessed the abilities of setting the perfect plans and knew the proper moment of attacking the enemies. This was mentioned in sentence II when he was described as a hidden lion prepared for wild cattle. This suits the clear praising description of the king as clever as Thoth in another text 38. From another point the expression gm-drt and its following sentence “sending the arrow to its spot without fail” in sentence I might refer to the ability of the scribe in leading the readers’ minds to make sort of equation between the arrow of the king and beak of the ibis. This imagination can be emphasized in the scene of the king while holding his bow and arrow ready to shoot while behind the king is the vertical text with the image of the ibis bird in the word of gm-drt (figure. 1).

34 See also the translation in Edgerton, Historical Records, 12, pl. 19 line 13. 35 Epigraphic Survey, Habu I, pl. 31 lines 2-4 and Kitchen, Ramesside V, 29.12-13. 36 See also the translation in Edgerton, Historical Records, 37, pl. 31 lines 2-4. 37 Kurth, “Thoth”, 498. 38 Edgerton, Historical Records, 23, pl. 27-28 line 16. - 66 -

Minia Journal of Tourism and Hospitality Research Volume 1, No. 1, June, 2016

Figure 1. Epigraphic Survey, Habu I, pl. 19. In addition the natural behavior of the ibis in inserting its beak in mud to obtain food which fascinated 39 the ancient Egyptians is considered an indirect consideration for the enemies as worms. This also symbolizes the inability of the enemies in confronting the king for the worms have no arms. Probably the scribe inspired this idea from the so called Kadesh poem in which the enemies were said to be prostrated before the horses of the king and no one of them could find hand to fight 40. The Falcon bird and the Seth Animal The images of the falcon or 41 and Seth or 42 occur in many texts as will be shown below: I. Among the speech of the king towards the royal princes and officials while watching the piles of cutting hands and phalli of the Libyans, he says:

43 iw.i m sA.sn mi bik NTri gmH.f xpwt Hr o[A]rt “I was after them like a divine falcon (when) he sight small birds at [a hole]” 44. Then the king describes himself as:

39 P. Vernus and J. Yoyotte, Bestiaire des pharaons, (Paris, 2005), 390. 40 Edgerton, Historical Records, 12 footnote 13a. 41 Allen, Middle Egyptian, 433, signs G5 and G6 and Bonnamy, Dictionnaire des Hiéroglyphes, 834, signs G5 and G6. 42 Allen, Middle Egyptian, 431, signs E20 and 21 and G6 and Bonnamy, Dictionnaire des Hiéroglyphes, 834, signs G5 and G6. 43 Epigraphic Survey, Habu I, pl. 23 lines 44-46 and Kitchen, Ramesside V, 17. 7-8. 44 See also the translation of Edgerton, Historical Records, 16, pl. 23 lines 44-46. - 67 -

Hesham Ezz Eldin Zaki

ib.i Hr swh mi kA Hr bAw[y ////] mi %tX xft nSny.tw.f “My heart (is) with a roar like a bull upon the battlefield, like Seth when he rages ” 46. II. The king is capturing two Libyan chiefs and says:

47 n wn aHa.tw r HAt.f sw mi Bar im At n[Sn].f mi bik im xpw “There is no one (who) makes himself stand to the front of him (for he is) like Baal at the time of [raging] (and) like a falcon among small birds ” 48.

I. II. Epigraphic Survey, Habu I, pl. 23. Epigraphic Survey, Habu II, pl. 68. III. The king is pursuing the fleeing Libyans.

49 nswt biwk NTri mH im pH.s nA aA SA sxmty hn.s Hr xpS.f nSnyt.tw wr pHty “ the king, a divine falcon, the seizer upon his assailant, the great to command, the powerful, who relays upon his strong arm, the one who rages and great of strength ” 50. IV. Describing the terrible condition of the Libyans when they saw the king in the 11th year war:

45 Epigraphic Survey, Habu I, pl. 23 lines 48-49 and Kitchen, Ramesside V, 17. 9-10. 46 See the translation of Edgerton, Historical Records, 16, pl. 23 lines 48-49. 47 Epigraphic Survey, Habu II, pl. 68. lines 3-4 and Kitchen, Ramesside V, 44. 8. 48 See the translation of Edgerton, Historical Records, 60, pl. 68 lines 3-4. 49 Epigraphic Survey, Habu II, pl. 70. lines 2-4 and Kitchen, Ramesside V, 43. 12-13. 50 See the translation of Edgerton, Historical Records, 61, pl. 70 lines 2-4 - 68 -

Minia Journal of Tourism and Hospitality Research Volume 1, No. 1, June, 2016

51 gm.sn Hm.f mitt bik [NTri] nSnw mAA.n.f x[pw] “They found his majesty like a [divine] falcon, furious (when) he saw [small birds]”52.

III. IV. Epigraphic Survey, Habu II, pl. 70. Epigraphic Survey, Habu II, pl. 82. From the displayed texts, the king in Text I was described as the “falcon” bik who sighted small birds and was identified with the storm god Seth in his state of rage. In Text II the king was like a falcon among small birds while the recumbent Seth animal was used as a determinative in the word nSny “rage” to describe the condition of the king as god Baal 53. The association between Baal and Seth is normal because both of them were storm gods 54. In Texts III and IV the objective nSny with the determinative of Seth was used to describe the anger condition of the king as a divine falcon. From what has been mentioned above it seems that the political significance of the scribe to emphasize the peaceful condition of Egypt and the unification of its lands through the mighty of the king. According to the myth, there was a fierce struggle between gods Horus and Seth 55. The ability of the king to confront the external threats was expressed in the texts of god Amun who gave him the victories of Horus and Seth,

51 Epigraphic Survey, Habu II, pl. 80-83 line 17 52 See also the translation in Edgerton, Historical Records, 77, pl. 80-83 line 17. 53 LGG II, 778. 54 N. Allon, “ Seth is Baal – Evidence from the Egyptian Script ”, in M. Bietak (ed.), Ägypten und Levante XVII (2007), 20. 55 R.A. Armour, Gods and Myths of Ancient Egypt, (Cairo. New York, 2001), 98-109. See also H. Te Velde, Seth God of Confusion, (Leiden, E.J.Brill, 1967), 32-46. - 69 -

Hesham Ezz Eldin Zaki

their reign, their property and their portions 56. The stable condition between Horus and Seth was witnessed in various monuments from earlier periods. For example the serekh of king Khasekhemwy from the Second Dynasty is surmounted by the falcon Horus and the Seth animal 57 and the side thrones of king Snusert I from the Twelfth Dynasty represented both Horus and Seth while binding the papyrus plant and the lotus flowers respectively in the sema-Tawy sign of unification between Upper and Lower Egypt 58. Another point that might be of interest concerning the arrangement of the animal signs in Text I. The king was first described as a falcon (line 45), then as a bull (line 48 middle) and finally like Seth (line 48 lower) when he rages (line 49 upper). They symmetrically resemble the remarkable triad statues in the Egyptian Museum representing Ramesses III standing between Horus and Seth 59 and each one of the two gods is extending one hand towards the head of the king (figure. 2).

Figure 2: Wilkenson, Complete Gods, Text I figure in p. 197. Falcon Bull Seth animal Horus King Seth Looking to statues and the animal signs in the texts, the statue of Horus is shown on the left hand side suiting the first position of the falcon in the text. In the middle is the king’s statue and in the text the king was

56 Edgerton, Historical Records, 107, pl. 101 line 17. 57 P.A. Clayton, Chronicle of the Pharaohs. The Reign-By-Reign Record of the Rulers and Dynasties in Ancient Egypt, (Thames and Hudson, 2001), 28. 58 P. von Zabern, Official Catalogue. The Egyptian Museum Cairo, (Mainz. Germany, 1987), no. 87. 59 R.H.Wilkenson R.H., The Complete Gods and Goddesses of Ancient Egypt, (Thames and Hudson, 2003), figure in 197. - 70 -

Minia Journal of Tourism and Hospitality Research Volume 1, No. 1, June, 2016

described as a bull. Finally there is the statue of Seth on the right hand side whose animal sign occurred in the third position in the text. The position of the king in this remarkable triad can be also found in the text accompanying the scene of attacking a fortress in Amor in which the king was said to be enfolded between Horus and Seth for their strength and awe were united in his body 60. The Seth Animal and the Snake The enemies were usually described as wild animals, cattle, small birds, mice, locusts and fish to symbolize their inability to confront the king and to express their naïve nature. The coming two texts concerning the battle against the Sea People are unique. They associated the Sea People with the determinative of the chaotic evil demon aA-pp “Apophis” 61 shown as hindered snake with several knives penetrating its body while the king was described as god Seth as displayed in the following sentences: I. In the battle of the king against the land forces of the Sea People.

62 Xft nSn %tX Hr dx (6) sbi r HAt %ktt “when Seth rages to cast down the enemy in front of the sun bark ” 63. II. In the scene of the king while shooting his arrow against the Sea People whose fleets are confronted by the Egyptians.

64 mi %tX Hr sHtm pA Dw ody “like Seth at the time of causing the destroy of the Evil of Character ” 65.

60 Edgerton, Historical Records, 100, pl. 94 line 10-11. 61 LGG II, 72-74. 62 Epigraphic Survey, Habu I, pl. 32, lines 5-6 and Kitchen, Ramesside V, 30.10-11. 63 See also the translation in Edgerton, Historical Records, 39, pl. 32 lines 5-6. 64 Epigraphic Survey, Habu I, pl. 37, line 21 and Kitchen, Ramesside V, 32.12. 65 See also the translation in Edgerton, Historical Records, 42, pl. 37 line 21. - 71 -

Hesham Ezz Eldin Zaki

I. II. Epigraphic Survey, Habu I, pl. 32. Epigraphic Survey, Habu I, pl. 37. Associating the Sea People with the evil demon Apophis in the words sbi “enemy” in Text I and pA Dw ody “ the evil of characters ” in Text II refers to the complete understanding of the scribe with their extreme danger that threatened the stability of the world. This was mentioned in a text that no land represented in Hatti, Kode Carchemish, Yereth and Yeres was having the ability to stand before the Sea People and they were completely devastated 66. For Apophis was the main adversary of the sun god Re 67. Therefore the Egyptian king who was ruling with the justice of the sun god Re was not only defending Egypt but he was protecting the stability of the world from the destructive invading waves of the Sea People. In this view the scribe tried to capture the feelings of the readers through presenting a dramatic idea that if Egypt fall no sun shall rise in the world of living. It is also clearly recognized from describing the king as Seth who defeated the enemy before the sun bark that the scribe had inspired this rhetoric text from the illustration of Seth while standing on the prow of the bark of Re and spearing his harpoon in the body of the snake Apophis 68. The Ram’s Forepart and the Vulture’s Head. Many texts glorified the great personality of the king for possessing Sfy “awe” and nri “terror” that captured the feelings of the enemies as displayed in the following examples. I. Among the texts of god Amun while presenting the sickle to the king to fight the Libyans.

66 Edgerton, Historical Records, 53, pl. 46 lines 16-17. 67 J.F. Borghouts, Book of the Dead [39]: from Shouting to Structure, (SAT 10, Wiesbaden, 2007), 12-15, 26-27 and 32 and L.D. Morenz, “Apophis: On the Origin, Name, and Nature of an Ancient Egyptian Anti-god”, JNES 63 (2004), 203. 68 Velde, Seth, 99. 69 Epigraphic Survey, Habu I, pl. 14, line 20 and Kitchen, Ramesside V, 11.12-13. - 72 -

Minia Journal of Tourism and Hospitality Research Volume 1, No. 1, June, 2016

[////] nrw.k omA [Sf]t.k m tA nb wAt “ [I make] your terror (and) create your awe in every distant land ” 70. II. Among the description of the king while marching to confront the Libyans.

71 aA nrw sxm Sft “Great of terror, mighty of awe ” 72. III. In the scene of the king while celebrating his victory over the Sea People.

73 Imn Hr imnt.i Hr iAbt.i Sftw.f rni.f m Hawt.i “Amun-Re was on my right and on my left, and his awe and his terror were in my limbs”74. IV. Among the texts of the Libyan captives who invoked mercy from the king.

75 Nsw nxt aAwy nri.k Sfy.k diw.k xty prwt.n “O mighty king, how great is your dread and your awe. You caused the retreat of our seeds”76.

70 See also the translation in Edgerton, Historical Records, 6, pl. 14 line 20. 71 Epigraphic Survey, Habu I, pl. 17 line 10 and Kitchen, Ramesside V, 13.6. 72 See also the translation in Edgerton, Historical Records, 9, pl. 17 line 10. 73 Epigraphic Survey, Habu I, pl. 42, lines 10-11 and Kitchen, Ramesside V, 33.8-9. 74 See also the translation of Edgerton, Historical Records, 43, pl. 42 lines 10-11. 75 Epigraphic Survey, Habu I, pl. 26 lines 16-17 and Kitchen, Ramesside V, 20.6. 76 See also the translation of Edgerton, Historical Records, 19, pl. 26, lines 16-17. - 73 -

Hesham Ezz Eldin Zaki

II. III. I. Epigraphic Survey, Habu I, Epigraphic Survey, Epigraphic Survey, pl. 17. Habu I, pl. 26. Habu I, pl. 14. Although god Amun provided the king with awe and terror but the ram’s forepart and the vulture’s head would direct the mind of the readers to the divine role of Amun and his consort goddess Mut to protect the king and hinder the enemies. For the ram forepart symbolized the impressive dignity of god Amun 77 while the vulture’s head was associated with goddesses Nekhbet and Mut 78. This idea was expressed in the marching scene of the king to confront the Libyans preceded by the standards of Amun and Mut 79. In scenes the king presented the Nubian, the Libyan and the Sea People captives to Amun and Mut 80. Vulture Many texts described the miserable condition of the enemies who were defeated before the horses of the king 81. For the word “ horses ” it is inscribed as ssmwt in texts of the Nubian war 82. But it is considered remarkable to find the word written in the other texts concerning the wars against the Libyans and the Sea People while

77 Vernus, Bestiaire, 472. 78 R.H. Wilkenson, Reading Egyptian Art: A Hieroglyphic Guide to Ancient Egyptian Painting and Sculpture, (Thames & Hudson, New York, U.S.A 1992), 85 and Bonnamy, Dictionnaire des Hiéroglyphes, 839, H4. 79 Epigraphic Survey, Habu I, pl. 14. 80 Epigraphic Survey, Habu I, pls. 11, 26 and 44. 81 Edgerton, Historical Records, 1, pl. 9 lines 9-11; 9, pl. 17 lines 6-7; 10-11, pl. 18 lines 7-8; 38-39, pl. 32-34 lines 6-7; 21, pl. 46 line 21; 62, pl. 70 lines 4-5; 71, pl. 72, line 1 and 63, pl. 73 line 4. 82 Epigraphic Survey, Habu I, pl. 9 lines 10-11 and Kitchen, Ramesside V, .6-. - 74 -

Minia Journal of Tourism and Hospitality Research Volume 1, No. 1, June, 2016

including vulture mwt 83 in its component as shown in the following examples: I. Among the text of Amun to the king who was marching to confront the Libyans.

84 xnd.i st Xr HAt ssmwt.k “ I tread them under the front of your horses ” 85. II. The king is shooting the Libyans with his arrow.

86 gbgb &imH smA m st.sn m iwnw r-HAt ssmwt.tw.f “ The Temeh fell down, killed in their places in heaps to the front of his horses ” 87. III. The king is attacking the Sea People.

88 dgdg tAw xAswt m Hdbyt sx m sd r DADA r-HAt ssmwt “ the plain and hill countries trample down by means of prostrating, beaten from tail to head to the front of his horses” 89.

I. II. III. Epigraphic Survey, Habu I, Epigraphic Survey, Habu

83 Allen, Middle Egyptian, 433 sign G14. 84 Epigraphic Survey, Habu I, pl. 17 line 7 and Kitchen, Ramesside V, 13.3-4. 85 See the translation of Edgerton, Historical Records, 9, pl. 17 line 7. 86 Epigraphic Survey, Habu I, pl. 18 lines 7-8 and Kitchen, Ramesside V, 14.4-5. 87 See the translation of Edgerton, Historical Records, 10-11, pl. 18 lines 7-8 88 Epigraphic Survey, Habu I, pl. 32 lines 6-7 and Kitchen, Ramesside V, 30.11. 89 See the translation of Edgerton, Historical Records, 38-39, pl. 32 lines 6-7. - 75 -

Hesham Ezz Eldin Zaki

pl. 17. I, pl. 18. Epigraphic Survey, Habu I, pl. 32. Replacing the owl of m letter with the sign of the vulture mwt that represented the name of the principal Theban goddess Mut 90 clearly refers to the symbolic purpose of the scribe. He cleverly expressed that the horses of the king were possessed by the magical power of goddess Mut and they would never fail him in the battlefield. This suits the text before the standard of goddess Mut that gave the king her eternal magical protection in his way to confront the Libyans 91. In a scene the goddess provided the king with her magical protection 92. Moreover the Egyptian horses were understood to embody the mighty of goddess Mut as expressed in the text of the 8th year Libyan war.

93 ssmwt Hr nwT m Haw.sn nb gr r ptpt “ Their horses (are) about to quiver in all their bodies, ready to trample ” 94. The Feline’s Hindquarter Many texts assured the ability of the king in defeating the one who assailed him through violating the Egyptian borders 95. For the word referring to the attacking action of the enemies the scribe used the verb pH “assail” that included the feline’s hindquarter 96 as shown in the following texts: I. The king is marching to confront the Libyans.

90 Wilkenson, Reading Egyptian Art, 85 and Bonnamy, Dictionnaire des Hiéroglyphes, 835, G14. 91 For the scene see Epigraphic Survey, Habu I, pl. 14, line 18 and the translation in Edgerton, Historical Records, 6, pl. 14 line 18. 92 For the scene see Epigraphic Survey, Habu I, pl. 18 and the translation in Edgerton, Historical Records, 11, pl. 18 line 8. 93 Epigraphic Survey, Habu I, pl. 46 line 21 and Kitchen, Ramesside V, 40.12. 94 See the translation of Edgerton, Historical Records, 55, pl. 46 line 21. 95 See the translations of these texts in Edgerton, Historical Records, 9, pl. 17 line 11; 37, pl. 31 lines 3-7; 41, pl. 37 lines 18-19 and 61, pl. 70 line 2. 96 Allen, Middle Egyptian, 432 sign, F22 and Bonnamy, Dictionnaire des Hiéroglyphes, 830, F22. - 76 -

Minia Journal of Tourism and Hospitality Research Volume 1, No. 1, June, 2016

97. mAi ond mAA.n.f pH.s “ a lion raging when he saw his assailant ” 98. II. The king is standing on the shore while directing his arrow towards the fleet of the Sea People.

99 rw sond Hr nxnx pH sw m awy.f “ an enraged lion to attack (the one who) assails him with his paws ” 100. III. The king is chasing the fleeing Libyans.

101 Nsw biwk NTri mH m pH.s “ the king, a divine falcon seizing upon his assailant” 102.

I. II. III. Epigraphic Survey, Habu Epigraphic Survey, Habu I, Epigraphic Survey, Habu I, pl. 17. pl. 37. II, pl. 70. Choosing the verb pH with feline’s hindquarter might refer to intention of the scribe to make the minds of the readers imagine the battlefield with the heroic attacking image of the king who was described as lion in sentences I and II and as falcon in sentence III and before him only appear

97 Epigraphic Survey, Habu I, pl. 17, line 11 and Kitchen, Ramesside V, 13.6-7. 98 See also the translation of Edgerton, Historical Records, 9, pl. 17 line 11. 99 Epigraphic Survey, Habu I, pl. 37 lines 18-19. 100 See the translation of Edgerton, Historical Records, 41, pl. 37 lines 18-19. 101 Epigraphic Survey, Habu II, pl. 70 line 2. 102 See the translation of Edgerton, Historical Records, 62, pl. 70 line 2. - 77 -

Hesham Ezz Eldin Zaki

the hindquarters of the fleeing enemies who became like the terrified animals. This might also explain the reason of not using other verbs with the attacking meaning because of having efficient determinatives like crocodile in Ad 103, walking legs in hAi 104, two arms the last is holding a stick in hd 105, arm holding a stick in Saf 106 and the horn in Twn 107. This idea can be emphasized through the association of the king with the leopard head in the word pHty “ strength ” to express his ability in hindering the enemies 108. The Un-horned Ox The un-horned ox 109 was used as a determinative in two words bStw “ rebellious ” and ssn “ breath ”. I. For the first word it occurred in the text accompanying the scene of the king while receiving the sward sickle from the god Amun before going to fight the Libyans.

110 Ssp n.k xpS sA.i mry.i Hw.k tpw xAswt bStw “take to you the sward my son, my beloved (that) you may smite the heads of the rebellious countries ” 111.

I. Epigraphic Survey, Habu I, pl. 13 II. The second word ssn was used among the speech of the captives to the king who was presenting them to god Amun.

103 Wb 1, 24.17. 104 Wb 2, 475.1-4. 105 Wb 2, 504.14-505.9. 106 Wb 4, 421.11-12. 107 Wb 5, 359.11-12. 108 See the translations of these texts in Edgerton, Historical Records, 8, pl. 16 line 14; 11, pl. 19 line 1; 14, pl. 22 line 23; 15, pl. 23 line 1; 17, pl. 24 line 1; 19, pl. 26 line 21; 35, pl. 29 lines 5, 8, 25 and 33 and 37, pl. 31 line 3. 109 Allen, Middle Egyptian, 431, sign F 63. 110 Epigraphic Survey, Habu I, pl. 13, line 7 and Kitchen, Ramesside V, 10.12. 111 See the translation of Edgerton, Historical Records, 4, pl. 13 lines 6-7. - 78 -

Minia Journal of Tourism and Hospitality Research Volume 1, No. 1, June, 2016

112 imi.tw n.n TAw ssn.n sw pA anx pA nty m awy.k “ may it is given to us the breath (that) we can breathe it (and) the life which is in your hands ” 113.

II. Epigraphic Survey, Habu I, pl. 26. No doubt the ox head in the word bStw from Text I suits the descriptions of the enemies in many texts as cattle 114. Also it referred to the permission the king received from god Amun to cut the heads of the evil ones to protect Egypt. From another point probably the scribe used the un-horned ox that differs from horned one 115 to symbolize the inability of the enemies to hurt the king. This is emphasized through describing the king as mighty bull that depended on its sharp horns to attack the enemies 116. The effective power of the king against hindered enemies was expressed in the text of the 11th year of the Libyan war that described the king as the [mighty] bull who bagged the heads of wild cattle 117. In a remarkable rhetoric description the king in the battlefield was said to have his eyes on his horns and ready to attack his assailant 118. This might lead

112 Epigraphic Survey, Habu I, pl. 26 lines 19 and Kitchen, Ramesside V, 20.7-8. 113 See the translation of Edgerton, Historical Records, 19, pl. 26 lines 19. 114 See Edgerton, Historical Records, 22, pl. 27-28 lines 31-32; 37, pl. 31 line 4; 82, pl. 80-83 line 36. 115 Allen, Middle Egyptian, 431, sign F 1 and Bonnamy, Dictionnaire des Hiéroglyphes, 828, F1. 116 See the texts in the translation of Edgerton, Historical Records, 10, pl. 18 lines 4-5; 26, pl. 27-28 line 32; 59, pl. 62 line 5; 79-83, pl. 80-83 line 26. 117 Edgerton, Historical Records, 77, pl. 80-83 line 18. 118 Edgerton, Historical Records, 32, pl. 27-28 line 56-57. - 79 -

Hesham Ezz Eldin Zaki

the readers when seeing the un-horned ox as determinative in the word rebellious to consider the enemies totally blinds. Concerning Text II the ox head in the word “breathe” expresses to what extent the captives were desperate and their hearts were captured with fear from the miserable fate that was waiting them. Therefore they were seeking mercy through being allowed to have second chance for life. According to these the scribe through using the ox head identified the defeated chiefs with the slaughtered animals presented as offerings to god Amun. This can be expressed through the location of the text above the captives with their heads bound to each other. Conclusion The scribe succeeded in using the animal signs to associate the king with the positive symbolic ideas. Through the ibis bird of the wisdom god Thoth the king represented the power of justice. In another aspect the violent nature of the king as the storm god Seth protected the stability of the world against the malicious goals of the Sea People who were associated with the evil snake demon Apophis. The scribe depended on the image dualism to present the political idea of emphasizing the unification of Egypt through the images of Horus and Seth. He used the lion and the baboon to symbolize the king’s possession of both mighty and wisdom. Amazingly this might be the origin of the popular stories that included the lion as the jungle king while the baboon was his private counselor. The scribe referred to the important supporting role of the Theban couple Amun and his consort Mut through the ram’s forepart and the vulture’s head respectively. The scribe was also clever in exploiting the phonetic sign of the vulture of goddess Mut to use it in the component of the word ssmwt representing the horses of the king. In addition the scribe expressed the inability of the enemies who could not confront the king through using parts of animals with weak aspect like the feline’s hindquarter and the un-horned ox. References Allen J.P., Middle Egyptian. An Introduction to the Language Culture of Hieroglyphs, (Cambridge University Press, New York, 2010).

- 80 -

Minia Journal of Tourism and Hospitality Research Volume 1, No. 1, June, 2016

Allon N., “ Seth is Baal – Evidence from the Egyptian Script ”, in M. Bietak (ed.), Ägypten und Levante XVII (2007), 15-22. Armour R.A., Gods and Myths of Ancient Egypt, (Cairo. New York, 2001). Bonnamy Y. and A. Sadek A., Dictionnaire des Hiéroglyphes. Hiéroglyphes/Français, (Actes Sud, 2010). Borghouts J.F., Book of the Dead [39]: from Shouting to Structure, (SAT 10, Wiesbaden, 2007). Cifola B., “Ramses III and the Sea People: A Structural Analysis of the Medinet Habu Inscriptions”, in Orientalia 57 (1988), 275-306. Cifola B., “The Terminology of Ramses III’s Historical Records with a Formal Analysis of the War Scenes”, in Orientalia 60 (1991), 9- 57. Clayton P.A., Chronicle of the Pharaohs. The Reign-By-Reign Record of the Rulers and Dynasties in Ancient Egypt, (Thames and Hudson, 2001). D’ Abbadie J.V., “Les singes familiers dans l’ancienne Egypte (Peintures et Bas-reliefs) III. Le Nouvel Empire”, in RdE 18, (1966), 143-201. Edgerton W.F. and J. A. Wilson J.A., Historical Records of Ramses III: The Texts in Medinet Habu, Vol I and II, (SAOC 12, Chicago: University of Chicago Press,1936). Epigraphic Survey, Medinet Habu, Volume I. Earlier Historical Records of Ramses III, (OIP 8, Chicago, 1930). Epigraphic Survey, Medinet Habu, Volume II. The Later Historical Records of Ramses III, (OIP 9, Chicago,1932). Erman A., Grapow H., Wörterbuch der ägyptischen Sprache. (Akademie- Verlag, Berlin, 1926-1931) = Wb Houlihan P.F, The Animal World of the Pharaohs, (London and New York, 1996). Kitchen K.A., Ramesside Inscriptions. Historical and Biographical volume V (Oxford, 1983). Köhler I., “ Rage Like an Egyptian : The Conceptualization of Anger ”, Current Research in Egyptology 2010. Proceedings of the Eleventh Annual Symposium, (2011), 81-96. Kurth D., “Thoth”, in LÄ 6 (Wiesbaden 1986), 498 (497-523).

- 81 -

Hesham Ezz Eldin Zaki

Lesko L.H., A Dictionary of Late Egyptian, vol IV, (Providence: B.C. Scribe,1989), 58. Leitz Chr., Lexikon der ägyptischen Götter und Götterbezeichnungen. 1-8 (OLA 110-116 and 129, Leuven-Paris, 2002). Spalinger A.J., Aspects of the Military Documents of the Ancient Egyptians, (New Haven and London, Yale University Press, 1982). Teeter E., “ Animals in Egyptian Literature ”, in B.J. Collins (ed.), A History of the Animal World in the Near East, (Leiden, Boston, and Cologne, Brill 2002), 251-270. Te Velde H., Seth God of Confusion, (Leiden, E.J.Brill, 1967). Vernus P. and J. Yoyotte J., Bestiaire des pharaons, (Paris, 2005), 390. Von Zabern P., Official Catalogue. The Egyptian Museum Cairo, (Mainz. Germany, 1987). Wilkenson R.H., Reading Egyptian Art: A Hieroglyphic Guide to Ancient Egyptian Painting and Sculpture, (Thames & Hudson, New York, U.S.A 1992). Wilkenson R.H., The Complete Gods and Goddesses of Ancient Egypt, (Thames and Hudson, 2003).

- 82 -